Adrian Harkrigs II
Origins Born in the peaceful city of Stockholm in 2055, Adrian Harkrigs II was a lucky child. A good and wealthy family surrounded him, with his father being his primary role model and parent. Adrian Harkrigs was a man of influence, and during his thirties he was at the peak of the exportation world. Little Adrian loved to be around his father, learning the ways of the global market and studying how a man could strive in the competitive world of business. Things were going well for the kid and he grew to be a well-mannered young adult, who respected his father like no one else, and had both the wits and the experience to become a great businessman just like he always dreamt. On March 14 of 2078, around a year after the Rend of 77, the Harkrigs Company was brought down by a corporation known as Jolten Ur. When the family company was attacked, Adrian's father was assassinated by mercenaries. Young Adrian was found while parking his car, and was stabbed several times in the stomach and once in the right cheek, leaving the scar he has. The mercenary thought that last stab went to his throat, and left him to die in the underground parking lot of the building. There, he waited until no one was around and bleeding out, he grabbed his car and drove to his father's friend who ran a hospital. In secrecy, trying to avoid letting anyone know that he was still alive, he recovered after being close to dying. The loss of blood and psychological trauma weakened him, and for months he stayed in bed, covering the costs with the wealth he had saved in his own bank account. Thought to be dead until this day, he lived a dull and normal life and changed his name to Adrian Harksen to cover his identity for ten years. Utilizing what his father taught him, he used the stock market and a job at a local library to earn his money. Slowly saving up and living in the plainest apartment he could find close to the slums, he gave up on his big aspirations, and in turn became a man of few words, poor sense of socialization and little interest in the world's future. He began heavy drinking and going to the nearest fire range to get rid of the daily stress he built up for all the troubles he made up in his head, and the memories of his recovery haunted him to a point where sleepless nights would be spent outside kicking cans or sitting in dark alleys smoking cigarettes. He did not have money for drugs, but he did take them whenever he could get some when chatting with a homeless or when the people at the bar shared. It helped him ease his stressful brain. One day, a man came to him and offered to join a guild. Initially, Adrian did not appreciate the offer and refused, but after a couple days he spent some heavy money on street drugs, and after having a bad trip, he discovered that being such an ambitious person was killing him from the inside as he tried to hide all his emotions, and revenge was the only way of calming all the memories he was suffering from. He called the man who ended up being Dr. Cow, and together they founded Dayhawks, in honor to the ancient birds who roamed the lands and brought fortune to the poor people in the legends. Albeit it sounded really cheesy, it was fitting for them. They did not seek power, but rather focused on sabotaging whatever operation big corporations where doing and that they could get their hands on. Ranging from destroying cargo to going ahead and assassinating groups of mercenaries from the shadows. They trained and became master gunners, and since they were two people against the world, they could afford little in tactics, so both focused on handguns. Light yet deadly. Eventually, the group grew to four people. Cow was the captain, followed by Harkrigs, and two recruits, Melissa Charrings and Piotr Garanin. Together their reputation began to grow little by little, most importantly because they tried to keep their name from being known wide across the big guilds, but as they accepted jobs and performed greatly, it was only a matter of time before they were in the "Industry". Piotr and Melissa were like both siblings and pupils to Adrian, who albeit being of similar age, respected his experience and abilities. Piotr even gifted Adrian his first PSS Silent Pistol, a model Harkrigs came to love and use in his missions from then on. Being in the Industry was not as beneficial as it was detrimental in the end. They gathered a good amount of money and their jobs began to become more impactful each day, just like they wanted, but it all changed when in a mission, they were set up for a trap, and while attempting to escape Piotr was captured and killed in front of them in a gruesome manner involving small explosives injected into his body. That shattered Melissa, who was developing a relationship with the young man, and after five painful missions, where Melissa also lost one of her eyes, she left the business for good. Harkrigs had an argument with Cow the next day and promptly he also decided to retire from the job. After that, Harkrigs did not hear about Cow's whereabouts for a long time. He was 38 when he left the Dayhawks, but it was when he reached his early forties when he heard that his friend Cow was dead from the bar rumours. In order to confirm that piece of information, he went ahead and began asking around the city, leaving the slums he was hiding in. When he confirmed Cow's death, he came to know that he died trying to save a small apartment of retired elderly from being demolished to build a new company skyscraper. Sounded honorable, and yet stupid for him. But it lit a small candle that had always been prepared deep inside him. He had to finish what Cow did, at least to apologize leaving him during Dayhawks' hardest moments, which led to the disappearance of the group they worked so hard to build up. With a single custom handgun, many rounds of magazines, toxins and the use of stealth, he managed to infiltrate the corporation looking to bring down the old building, and he planted a couple dozen of explosives all across the building, which ended with the whole corporation blowing up. He explains it by saying that the company was not expecting a single man, so their cameras, guards and security were geared towards detecting big movements and not paying attention to little details, which enabled him to slowly take out the guards in each floor without them noticing. But most say it's his masterful handgun skills and his patience that let him take down such a large enemy by himself. There, she found Poppy Tesberry, his future adoptive daughter. Unable to leave a child behind, he took her to the slums and raised her as his own daughter. When he found her, she was 4 years old. He trained Poppy for many years in the job, and in her he found a kindred spirit, mirroring the willpower he had when Adrian himself was young. Raising her was beneficial to his psychological status, and after a couple years he even stopped taking any drugs and cut the drinking in order to be sober as much as possible. The only addiction that remained was the smoking, which he tried to ditch but since it was not as heavily impacting his decision making, he was not forced to leave it, and thus did not. Poppy became a great assassin, and although she learned great handgun skills from Adrian, he found that her precision with the sniper rifle was incredible. Her shots were accurate, her predictions were perfect and in a simple mission, she demonstrated great memory and decision making when he made her provide ranged support. When Poppy hit her 21st birthday, they founded a new guild under the name Dayhawks, again. Both became known as the Dayhawks Family- a father and a daughter who were a little picky on the jobs they accepted, but their success rate was bordering the hundred. Their execution was clean and fast, and their price was not among the highest. With Poppy, Adrian found hope and aspiration. He had something to achieve, and that gave him a new direction he much needed to press on. Personality Adrian Harkrigs II is a rather cynical man on the outside, often too calm and ignoring his inner emotions when possible. But even though he hides it, close ones can feel his actual simpathy towards others and his real care for the future and the better of the world. A conflicting combination of cynicism and kindness forged by his past makes Harkrigs an enigmatic man when approached. He tries to be cold with people, but shows much care to his daughter and his guild. He very much enjoys sharing a meal with Poppy, as they can talk calmly and take a break. It's not very probable that he pursues a loving relationship with someone else, since at his age and situation he prefers to have little to no connection with regular people, in his words "to avoid unwanted weight", but mainly to avoid putting anyone he loves in danger. During missions, Harkrigs takes everything very seriously, and he lets no detail go past him. This is tied to the importance he gives to decision making, something he focuses on. In his opinion, the right decision made at the right moment can trump anything. When not working, Harkrigs prefers to spend his time studying the movement of corporations and the operations around the city. He also spends time training with Poppy, and he believes that soon enough she will surpass him easily and become a great name in the Industry. He likes to train her in critical thinking by explaining a situation, and playing it out as if he was an opponent, and see if she chooses a right move. Powers and Abilities After Harkrigs' Hive Genes activated, he gained the main reason why he continues to be able to fight in a daily basis with his decaying body after drug consumption and frequent smoking. His power, as he calls it, "Stained Moth", surrounds his vision with a purple hue and enhances his reaction times greatly. This, together with the ability to process information at higher speeds, he becomes the ultimate decision maker, choosing uncommon ways to tackle obstacles as he gains the ability to see the possibilities and outcomes for every action he makes. Innate effects also include night vision and improved movement and stamina. Stained Moth seems to bear little effect after it wears off, and does not tire Adrian as much. This is probably due to his experience in battle and advanced state of Hive Genes. Adrian is a master in close quarters combat, and regular enemies usually pose no threat. Utilizing his expert aim and silenced handgun, he prefers to assassinate his targets one by one instead of taking on full groups of enemies. Category:Characters